Status of Women Committee on March 4th, 2022

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

That's fantastic. Thank you.

[Marc Serré, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

Madam Chair...?

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

You had 10 seconds, Marc.

[Marc Serré, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

You're wonderful. Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

If everyone could get that on the record, it would be fantastic.

We're going to now move over to Andréanne. You have two and a half minutes.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

Thank you again to the representatives of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police for the answers they gave me during my first speaking turn.

For my second turn, I would like to talk more about prevention with Mr. Gyovai and Mr. Kelly. In Quebec, we already have a well-integrated health and social services system, which has its own way of accompanying victims. But the real crux of the matter is financial resources, which allow us to enhance our work on this public health issue.

I would like you to tell us about the importance of eliminating barriers that prevent money from being transferred directly to organizations or shelters that help victims. These organizations even work with violent men and offer them support, as well as providing social services.

Health transfers are also important for the redistribution of funds to organizations that work in prevention.

I would like to hear your comments on this.

[Michael Jason Gyovai]

I'll say a bit, but I'll leave most of the time for Tim to speak on it.

We have a fantastic relationship with our national body, BGC Canada, which does a lot of the higher-level advocating on this process. They've been in conversation with many leaders across the provinces to ensure that, when there's funding availability, it flows through the national board so that the organizations below—in our case, as a federation model—in the right communities are getting the right kind of funding and access to resources.

I'll turn the rest of my time over to Tim.

[Tim Kelly]

Thanks.

I've really found this whole conversation interesting, because there's a hole in the middle of it, which is those who are causing harm and how we take that piece on.

I agree that there are funding barriers that need to be looked at. It could be looking at alternative ways of addressing men's violence, when you're working with traditional practices within indigenous communities. It could be looking at the barriers that are in place for biracial and Black communities accessing services, when they don't trust the police response that's happening, historically, to them. There are options that we need to consider if we're going to take this on in a serious way and provide off-ramps for people to access services that don't necessarily involve formal processes, like criminal justice and police responses.

If we really want to take a look at this and try to get ahead of this issue, we need to look at where that funding streams through, how it works, the support of women and women's services, and then begin to really take seriously how we open access to individuals who want to deal with this issue but don't necessarily trust the systems that are in place.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Thank you so much.

We're going to now move over for our last bit of questioning with Leah Gazan.

Leah, you have two and a half minutes.

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Thank you so much.

My last question is for Mr. Gyovai. I love the Boys and Girls Clubs. Strini Reddy in Manitoba was the founder of the Boys and Girls Club, an icon who's just loved in our community and who has managed to be the leader of many other critical programs for boys, girls and non-binary young people in our neighbourhoods.

As a former educator, I see the value in what you do, and I know that there needs to be a clear connection with schools. That's one of the things the Boys and Girls Club is known for—your seamless integration into schools.

Why is that model important, particularly when working with kids who may be living in environments where there is violence?

[Michael Jason Gyovai]

It's very important that we all work together. I know everyone uses the line, but we're truly working together. We need to make sure that the language and the lessons that are being taught in school are being echoed at BGC, or the Boys and Girls Club. We want to make sure, for children and youth, that there's no misinterpretation and there's no confusion over the messaging. All of us who work with kids or have kids know it's about repetition and making sure that the kids hear as much of the positive messaging and accurate messaging as they need.

To my earlier point, make sure that you get the parents involved so they know what's going on. Many of us as parents don't find out sometimes until the last second what's happening with our kids, so when we have the opportunity to get the parents involved, be it through the school councils, the teacher-parent interaction or BGC through our programs, interactions and volunteering, that's where we see the real changes. It comes down to those true collaborations, and it comes down to just your basic communication and speaking at the level of the individual you're engaging.

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Thank you.

In terms of engaging parents or caregivers, what kinds of activities do you do in terms of educating around violence or family violence?

[Michael Jason Gyovai]

Any information that we provide to our youth we provide to the parents. We offer them outside programming, their own workshops or groups to come in and speak about the stuff they're hearing from the kids and to speak about their concerns and issues. Through BGC Canada, that's where a lot of our advocacy work has been very much focused on getting the messaging across the country on ways to prevent to ensure that kids continue to strive and thrive.

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Thank you so much. I'd really like to thank Michael, Kimberley, Francis and Tim.

Our hour has come to an end, but there has been fantastic testimony.

Thank you, everybody, and to everybody, happy International Women's Day on Tuesday. I look forward to seeing everybody back at the committee on Tuesday, March 22.

Today's meeting is adjourned.